Organ-action



(No Model.)

C. R. FORD.

ORGAN ACTION. N0. 292,478. Patented Jan. 29, 1884.

llhviTnD STATES PATENT Ormea.

CHARLES RUFUS FORD, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

ORGAN-ACTlON.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 292,478, dated January29, 1884.

- Application tiled June 1S, 1883. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern.-

Be it known that I, GrntRLns RUFUs Fono, of Boston, in the county ofSuffolk, of the Oomshorter arm of such lever, in order to overbalancethe weight of the latter and the mute of it, and thereby to raise thelatter relativemonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented ly to the reed.To the front or shorter arm 5 a new and useful Improvement inReed-Organs; and I do hereby declare the same to be described in thefollowing' specieation and represented in the accompanying drawings, ofwhich- Figure l is a top view, and Fig. 2 a longitudinal section, ofsome of the keys of a reedorgan with my invention applied to them andtheir reeds, the said invention being designed to mute in a set of reedsthose thereof 15 that may be above (viz: to the right of) any one ofthem when sounded, and also to leave the keys of the muted reeds free tooperate their reeds of either or all of the auxiliary n,sets of reeds'.

2Q@ By uniting a reed is meant stopping it from vibrating, the articleor device for such purpose being termed a mute7 Thus it will beperceived that the object of my invention is to effect the muting ofcertain of 2 5 the reeds of one set and leave the keys of the mutedreeds free to operate theirreeds of the other set. The purpose of somuting certain of the reeds of one set is to prevent them from beingsounded while their keys are op- 30 erating their reeds of the otherset, such being an advantage, or productive of an effect or effectsreadily understood by organists. The invention as represented isintended for a bass attachment. In a reed-organ a man- 3 5 ual or bankof keys usually operates two or more sets of reeds by means of theirvalves. The nature of my invention is duly defined in the claimshereinafter presented.

In the drawings, A, A', A2, A3, A", ve., 4o denote the keys, each beingfurnished with mechanism of the usual kind to enable it to operate thevalve B of the reed C. Directly over each reed is a mute, D, which is around rod adapted to slide vertically in the reedi i l l l of each ofthe said levers a short bar or piece of wood, H, is attached, andarranged to extend across the lever in opposite directions and obliquelyto it and over and upon the next adjacent lever, in manner asrepresented. From this piece H, which Iterm a finger,77 a wire, I,depends. The said wire goes up through the finger, and is provided witha button, c, that is screwed or fixed on the wire and rests on theiinger. The wire extends downward through a lever, K, arranged, as shownin Fig. 2, with the valve-operating lever L of the key. The levers Iiand L are connected, so as to cause the valve-lever, when depressed, todepress the lever Ii. A

spring, ld, properly applied to the said lever any key of the set isstruck not only will its reed-valve be opened, so as to cause its reedto be sounded, but all the reeds belonging to the keys to the right ofor above the key struck will be muted. The keys of the muted reeds onbei-ng struck will cause their other reeds to be sounded.

The great advantage of my invention will be understood by players on andconstructors of reed-organs.

I claiml. In combination with the reeds and the keys for operating thevalves thereof, the series'of mutes and their levers and obliqueiingers, arranged and adapted to operate substantially as described, andprovidedwith mechanism for effecting depressions of the said levers bymeans of the keys, as explained.

2. The combination of the mutes, the operative levers, and the series ofoblique fingers 45 case E. This rod at its upper end depends and theirdepressing-wires, all being arranged fr om or is hinged to the inner armof one of a set of levers, F, arranged as shown, and fulcrumed to astationary bar, G, arranged over the reed-case. The longer arm of each5o of such levers is somewhat heavier than the and adapted to operate asset forth.

CHARLES RUFUS FORD. lVitnesses:

R. H. EDDY, E. B. PRATT.

